FSE

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"Ako, hey- Akky!" a familiar female voice pounded at the hyena's round ear.

"H-huh? sis I-" Ako mumbled, still halfway in a particularly delightful dream about some beautifully frosted white cake- or was it lemon?. The blanket is so comfortable, I don't wanna-

"Up. now. I need your help with these"

"Mita, please, just a few more minutes" the hyena whined, sleepily opening one of his eyelids to see the rather blurry image of his twin sister staring him in the face, leaning down against the straw mattress he slept on like some overbearing mother.

"Fine, Sis, let me just-" He yelped, the sudden pull on his arm tugging him up into a sitting position.

Mita crossed her arms over her chest, the soft, blue fabric of her shirt wrinkled, casting line shaped shadows over her body, resembling the twin's own black stripes. "Ako, I get it, we did a lot of walking last night, but just try to stay up, ok?"

"Look, my legs are feelin' kinda stiff, if-"

"Brother... you want me to massage them or something?" She scoffed, her voice girlish and teasing.

"No I-"

"Ugh, just get up and help me start gettin' these things mixed"

"Fine" Ako huffed, sliding off the crinkling straw matress to stand upright, glancing about the stone room and trying to clear his eyes. The little hideout was lit by Luminas- little wooden devices that contained a short-lived glowing algae. When cracked and activated, they cast just enough off-green light about the room for the twins to get ready for that day's work. Mita stood at the makeshift wooden table they'd set up against the wall, really more a slab of wood than anything. Strewn atop it was an array of little vials, filled with glittering powdered metals and liquids. Along with a decent few small clay vessels.

Ako smiled admirably at his twin sister. All the equipment needed to make weapons. Rude awakening aside, he was greatful for her company, especially on a most dangerous day like this. The two had caught quite a few downwind stories about something living in the ruins to the West of their current campsite. From the pair's previous experience, their best guess was also the most unfortunate one. A rogue homunculus.

Ako shivered at the thought. The rich saw great potential in the use of homunculi, grotesque creatures created in dark alchemy labs from confidential, ancient recipies. Their actual composition mostly unknown to the public, except for one key ingredient: A single drop of the creator's blood, used to bind the being to it's master for as long as he or she lived. When a homunculus's master did eventually perish, the being would become highly unpredictable and dangerous, no other living person ever able to retake control. Depending on the strength and power of one's creation, the risk posed could be greater. Ako figured what they were dealing with here had to be worth something, enough to continue their journey to the country of North Parstan. And so they had set out, to find this so-called "beast" bring some part of it back as proof, and get paid. Simple and clean- except it wasn't. Both twins knew that much for sure.

Ako blinked his crystal blue eyes, a brilliantly lustrous burst of gold light had exploded up from where Mita was working, casting a long, burning glow up the rough stone wall. Highlighting her body for a moment, brown shirt clinging to her white fur, tight enough that Ako could catch just the slightest glance at her toned midriff through her shirt when she raised up her arm. "Oops" she laughed. "Got the mix wrong"

"Let me, ok?" Ako glanced over her shoulder at her work- Alchemical bombs, designed to freeze their target in solid gold. One of the most crucial tools in a fight with what would likely be a fast-moving foe.

"Right-" he grunted, grabbing a vial of vibrant quicksilver- a poisonous liquid metal, and poured it gently into one of the round black urns, sprinkling a measured fingerfull of silver dust into it's interior. The entire mixture glinted, hints of gold flashing in it's interior like stars.

"There, don't overdo the silver and-"

"Yes, yes" She cut him off. "And don't shake it either, I know"

"Right" He nodded. Sauntering off to the little corner where they'd stored their equipment, tail wagging.

Ako already had his underclothes on, having slept in the rough shirt and pants. All he had to do in preparation for the road ahead was buckle on his worn metal chestplate and leg gaurds. Before grabbing his curved sword. A smile crept across the Hyena's muzzle as he held the weapon up in the air, blue-green light spilling out of a lumina in the rock alcove, glancing off it's heavy, wide blade. An Eastern design meant for heavy chopping, a gift from his old friend. Before slipping it into it's home within his belt sheath. The faint metallic smell in the air told Ako his sister had finished up all her work, carrying a handful of little black clay urns to her brother. For a moment, Ako's breath caught in his throat, for fear she would drop one and encase them both alive in pure gold. Luckily her balance held out, and she gingerly handed him three of the six palm-sized devices, which Ako stashed carefully in a leather pack he wore at his side. Nodding to his sister who did the same. Mita was decidedly more showy than her brother in terms of weaponry, her armament in extreme situations being a large metal compound bow. It's pull enhanced by a pair of bending gear joints, standing nearly as long as the female hyena was tall and firing special long arrows with thin, flesh-piercing tips. Mita had begun to worry, she'd gotten down to only four now, with no way to replace their complicated design. She gritted her long canine teeth. Gotta make them count.

"That it?" Ako asked, gently patting the pack on his side.

Mita smiled a 'yes' and opened the shabby wooden door. The dull orange of the rising sun spilled into the tiny rock alcove, bathing it's reddish insides in a warm, calming glow as the twins stepped out. An ironic prelude to today's work. ***

The path the two hyenas took was a treacherous one, after having their direction pointed out by a canine villager who looked sufficiently worried for their wellbeing, they'd set off up a rocky mountain trail, despite being devoid of trees, the periphery was littered with sharp, grey rocks that cast shadows over the path. The ground crunching underneath their footsteps, the twins made their way to a forboding swathe of land cut into the mountainside like a giant gash. The split rock created a basin of thin plant life that grew towards the sun. "There" Ako pointed toward a sizeable hole in the grassy patch's edge.

His sister nodded, unhooking the bow from her back, fingers shaking with anticipation and worry.

"If it's in there, what are we gonna do to get it to come out? I'm not stepping one foot down that hole" She said.

"Hey, me neither" Ako replied, eyeing the blackness inside as he stepped down into the short grass, hoping he hadn't given away his position by way of noisily crunching plants.

Ako glanced over to see his sister holding one of the alchemical bombs in her hand, standing defiantly at the edge of the hole. "No, wait! don't-" He was too late, she'd already casually rolled the device down into the gaping chasm, it's clay mass disappearing down the hole. A blast of gold light and a muffled shaking emanated from the cavity. The twins paused, glancing back and forth at one another for just single quiet moment, wind whistling lazily through the surrounding rock formations. ***

And then the world exploded into noise. The very ground rumbled, birds fled their perches atop shrubs and rock as the cave's mouth was torn apart into a messy cloud of dust and roots within seconds. The twins stood wide eyed, hearts pounding in their chests at the sight of a massive lifeform rising to meet the two. Definately a homunculus. Ako swallowed, eyes roving over it's grotesque, throbbing form. The being's body was a fat, wormlike sac measuring almost 8 feet across at it's widest point. It's pink skin surged and wrinkled around what would have, on a more traditional animal, been a shoulder. Instead of an arm or leg however, the monstrosity's limb terminated in a massive webbed wing, their red flesh glistening in the sunlight as the homunculus began to beat it's wings and carry itself up into the air like a huge, fleshy bird. Tossing clouds of sand dirt and grass into the air, nearly blinding the two hyena hunters.

Ako flattened his round hyena ears against his skull, wary of falling dirt, before drawing his sword with a well-oiled scrape, hands trembling.

"Move!" Mita yelled at him from the edge of the crater. He looked about, confused for a second before something wetly impacted the ground next to him. The hyena glanced up in shock to see the creature's front end had sprouted a mass of deep red tentacles, unfolding like a flower and reaching about the air. Sharp, toothlike thorns fell from the appendages, impacting the ground in front of him.

Ako ducked for cover behind a jagged rock, running on all fours to gain a brief burst of speed. A thundering boom sounded overhead, echoing loudly off the rock faces as Mita loosed an arrow. Her grey fur stood on end as the shaft tore through the air like a bolt of lightning. Slamming into the creature with a wet squelch, sending it writhing through the air, floundering towards Mita, it's attention now diverted.

Seeing his Sister in danger, Ako pulled a bomb from his bag, white-furred fingers gripping tightly to it's smooth clay surface. The Hyena swallowed, said a silent prayer. And flung the device.

The little black urn seemed to hover in suspense, contrasted against the blue sky. For a moment he was concerned about hitting her, only to be greeted with the relieving sight of a golden burst of light exploding across the monster's hide. Mita grunted, swatting one of the grotesque tentacles away with her bow as it tried to make contact with her fur. Suddenly, the appendage recoiled in shock, the cloying scent of burned flesh filling the air. The female hyena smiled through gritted teeth, a patch of gold now burned firmly into one of the creature's wings. Seeing the creature now struggling to fly, Mita took full advantage of the opening, grabbing a new arrow off her waist and knocking it. The hyena took aim through the slim metal bowsight and fired again. Hitting the thing squarely in the center of it's clustered tentacles: her best guess at where a "head" might have been. And fired, her shot was true, and the electrified metal rod struck the beast's fore-end. Tentacles writhing wildly, flinging grotesque droplets of drool to the ground as they did so. Ako smiled, from where he was standing, the beast's stress was clearly visible, it's pain rendering it unable to concentrate on flying any longer. The large wormlike being fell from the sky, wings trailing behind it like feathers before coming to rest upon the rocks like a limp fish.

Ako smiled, creeping towards the monster with his side dagger held out in front of him. Dodging a still-angry wet tentacle or two as he approached the pink, seizing mass. Mita nodded down from her rock perch, her twin nodded back, plunging the wide blade deep into their quarrie's flesh. Eliciting a loud bellow from the creature. He'd realized that he could not physically find a vital spot, heart rate increasing, he stabbed again and again, not noticing the feeling of wet droplets gathering on his back as he did so. Suddenly, the creature's body exploded in front of Ako's eyes, chunks of nasty pink flesh flying past his face as an arrow, having narrowly missed the boy- tore through it's flesh. Mita jumped down from her vantage point, sliding through the rough grass with a big grin on her face, sharp teeth bared.

"That thing just about stung 'ya, you were so busy stabbin' it, Akky" She laughed, kicking the now-still monster's side.

"Heh, thanks for that" He panted, wiping a striped arm across his muzzle.

Mita just patted her brother on the back in response, nodding. "Gonna let you do the honors"

Ako cringed, disgusted as he leaned in close to slice off one of the creature's slimy red tentacles, hanging the wet mass on his belt, shivering at the sensation of the appendage's closeness to his own fur.

"Now, you ok, Akky?" Mita asked, pulling him close into a little hug from the side.

"Yeah" he replied, looking up at the sky, thoughts of a city's warmth and light circling in his mind.

"You and I are gonna be buying so much cake" The hyena boy smiled at his sister.

END